Screening tenants allows you to determine if a future tenant meets the criteria of an ideal tenant. The screening process may oftentimes be very tedious because it takes a lot of reviewing, researching, and validating on your part as a landlord or property manager, but it prepares you to successfully make one of the most crucial business decisions you’ll ever decide on.

The goal of the screening process is to find a tenant that can afford to rent out your place. However, they shouldn’t cause trouble for your business as well. Credit histories and proofs of income can help a landlord see the financial credibility of the tenant, but not so much the attitude.

This is where a rental history report can help you screen potential tenants. You can ask your client to provide you with a list of their previous tenancies, which should include the address of the rented unit, duration of tenancy, rental rates, and the name and contact details of the landlord. (Note: Expect that first-time renters won’t be able to provide you this)

Here are a few tips to consider once you have the rental history report.

Verify the information.

Since you already have the contact numbers of your client’s previous landlords, give them a call to verify that your client indeed rented their units on the duration and rental rates they provided in the report.

Check for good signs.

One good indicator of a responsible tenant is long-term tenancies with previous landlords. If they stayed in one home for 2 years or more, then it means that they were able to keep a good relationship with their landlord.

Check for red flags.

Ask the landlord if the tenant got into altercations with them or other tenants. The tenant must be neighborly especially if your rental unit is alongside other units, like in the case of apartments.

If they were previously caught in a conflict, learn what was the reason behind it because there’s always that possibility that it wasn’t your tenant’s fault.

Also ask the previous landlord why the tenant did not renew his lease because if he left because he was evicted, then that is a bad sign.

If possible, contact at least three of your client’s previous landlord. A current landlord might not disclose to you any bad record if they are trying to get rid of the tenant from their property. The other landlords, on the other hand, have nothing to lose if they will be completely honest.

Ask for a recommendation.

A simple approval from previous landlords will be a significant factor in your decision. Ask them if they would be willing to lease to the tenant again if given the chance. If they say yes, then it’s your opportunity to grab that chance.

Beware of fake references.

Some tenants put in a friend’s name and number who will impersonate a landlord so that the tenant’s information you’ll gather from the friend will all be favorable. Try to compose “trick questions” based on the details that the applying tenant gave you and see if it’s consistent with what the landlord will disclose to you.

If an applying tenant lies about his rental history, denying his application is a no brainer.

When you post your listings on platforms like Padleads where you could receive a lot of applications, try to be upfront that you will require a rental history report from renters for their application to be considered. This will discourage renters who are hiding a bad tenant history from applying, while those who will apply as a tenant will most probably be those who have untarnished tenant reputation.